


White Houses

by daydream11



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-02-05
Updated: 2010-02-05
Packaged: 2020-08-20 03:54:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,352
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20221363
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/daydream11/pseuds/daydream11
Summary: Blacks are loyal to each other, regardless. House sortings don't matter. Theyshouldn't.





	White Houses

**Author's Note:**

> Written for mneiai's birthday

A prefect badge, silver and proudly displaying the Slytherin house crest, shone dully in the late afternoon sun. It moved up and down, following the path of the clothed chest it was attached to. Eleven-year-old Sirius Black eyed it indifferently; his gaze had rested solely on the badge in front of him for the past hour or so, but his mind was decidedly elsewhere. Without warning the young woman the badge belonged to moved. Sirius watched as she manually locked the cabin door and closed the blinds, flicking her wand at the lock. Sirius’ ears buzzed with the sudden quiet that flooded the cabin.  
  
He raised his eyes to meet those belonging to seventeen-year-old Andromeda Black. Bellatrix Black stared coolly back, studying him with unashamed frankness. Sirius did not flinch under her stare; contrary to popular belief, it was Andromeda that was perhaps the coldest Black, and it was from her he and everyone else of their generation had learned how to make inferiors quail. Narcissa glanced up from the pages of the thick book she was reading and, noticing Andromeda’s expression, purposely marked her page. The book aside and her reading glasses off, Narcissa sat at calm attention beside Sirius. The two of them waited.  
  
Andromeda tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. “Sirius, there are some things you must know before you begin your education at Hogwarts.” She paused, allowing her carefully-chosen words to register in both her cousin and sister. Once she was satisfied they were listening, she continued. “Your mother holds unreasonable expectations of you. None of us are fooled, cousin; we all realize that your methods of interacting with the world and dealing with life’s obstacles are decidedly different from most of the family’s, and we also understand that you are motivated by a different force.”  
  
Sirius’ brow crinkled slightly in confusion. Andromeda nodded at Narcissa, who willingly took the opportunity to make things plain for him. “We know that you are not to be a Slytherin, Sirius, and we do not expect you to be sorted into the family’s traditional house. With the exception of your mother, none of us are particularly angry. Disappointed, as is to be expected in ours or any other Wizarding family, but nonetheless accepting.” Narcissa placed a warm hand over his. “Sirius, Black honor does not depend on the house its people are sorted into.”  
  
Sirius’ mouth formed into an ‘O’ as he thought about this. _You are bound to sully the great Black name!_ now mixed with what his two cousins told him, and he was confused.  
  
“Then what it is?”  
  
Andromeda frowned. “Do you suppose ‘_toujours pur_’ means that we don’t marry anyone but purebloods?”  
  
“Yes.” Didn’t it?  
  
“It does,” Narcissa said. Her voice was gentle and light, if a bit condescending. “To a point.”  
  
“What is that point?” Sirius demanded. He squirmed unbecomingly in his seat, pretending not to notice Andromeda’s disapproving glare. “I don’t understand what you two are trying to tell me!”  
  
“Stop that yelling this instant, Sirius,” Andromeda scolded. He quickly relaxed under her chastising and sat back into his seat, careful not to slouch. “Are you listening to me? I will say this only once.”  
  
“I am,” he promised.  
  
“A Black must always be loyal to the Noble House of Black.” Narcissa and Sirius narrowed their eyes; it had escaped neither of them the tone Andromeda’s voice took when she said each word. Andromeda chose to ignore them, and said: “Before anyone and anything, a Black must value his or her family above all and place the family’s needs before his or her own.” She glanced sharply at her cousin. “Is that clear?”  
  
“Yes.”  
  
Satisfied, Andromeda nodded curtly and removed the Silencing Spell on this cabin. Sirius’ ears roared as sound rushed back into the cabin, and his head pounded as he vowed to make the Noble House of Black proud. Hogwarts was yet a tiny speck in the distance; if he squinted Sirius was able to make out a fuzzy outline in the deepening twilight. Narcissa returned back to her reading and Andromeda left the cabin to monitor her assigned portion of the train. Sirius sat back into his seat and watched Hogwarts come into view.  
  
-  
  
“Save me a seat, Cissy, please. I’ll meet you at our table soon enough.”  
  
Andromeda entered into the cabin where Sirius still remained. The train was still more than three-quarters full as students rushed here and there, tracking down missing luggage or missing friends or missing familiars in the confused frenzy of arrival. She performed the same actions on the door as she had a couple of hours before. “We must talk,” she said. “Quickly, before everyone is gone and this train begins its return to London.”  
  
His heart pounded and he gazed at her. “Is something wrong?”  
  
Brown eyes gazed sorrowfully at him, and in an unexpected rush of affection that was certainly out of character for the collected Andromeda Sirius found himself in her warm arms. “I’m sorry,” she whispered, burying her face in his dark hair. “This is going to be hard for you.”  
  
He extracted himself slightly from her embrace, just enough to look at her face. She shook her head, unable to speak. He was startled to find tears welling up in Andromeda’s eyes – _Andromeda_, who was always so calm and collected and unaffected by the world’s daily drama. He began to tremble ever so slightly; if something could get to Andromeda so deeply, what was in the stars for _him_? “Andy, Andy – _shhh_, please don’t cry! Andy, what are you talking about?” He leaned into her again and patted her back. She giggled raggedly and Summoned a handkerchief, dabbing her eyes with it.   
  
“If you are who we all know you to be, you will be in Gryffindor. No, _stop_ it; don’t twist your face like that. We Blacks have been Gryffindors before, however rare and far between those particular individuals come. A Gryffindor sorting is nothing to be ashamed of, no matter what my awful aunt may tell you.”  
  
“Even Bella?” Sirius asked doubtfully.  
  
Andromeda winked in conspiracy. “She would never admit it, though.” She sobered. “Never mind Bella right now; we are talking about _you_.”   
  
“What about me?”  
  
“You are different than the rest of us, Sirius. Somehow you were not born with the prejudices the rest of us were, however ignorant you are of anything outside of the Wizarding world. I consider myself lucky to think differently – I have Ted and that makes a world of a difference – but I still battle my racist upbringing everyday and I will until the day I die. Like me, you will have your loyalties tested. You may certainly count on it. Your mother will try to tell you that one cannot be loyal to both, but one can, even if either particular loyalty isn’t what you may expect it to be.”  
  
“You’ve been telling me a lot about expectations today.” Sirius paused for a moment, in thought for a few seconds. “And loyalties, too,” he added.   
  
Andromeda’s reply was foreboding and dark. “You have a lot to learn about the world if you don’t believe you’ve come with more than your fair share of them, Sirius Black.”  
  
“What about loyalty?”  
  
“It is not written in black and white, like everything else in this world.”  
  
The Head Girl, a stern Hufflepuff with sharp hazel eyes, poked her head in and nodded to Andromeda. “You’re needed,” she told Andromeda. “Right now.” A seventh-year Ravenclaw, the year’s Head Boy, appeared beside her and grinned warmly at Sirius.  
  
“Time to go, kiddo,” he said, beckoning to a nearby exit. He grinned warmly at Sirius. “Unless you _want_ to miss out on a spectacular feast.”   
  
“One second,” Andromeda replied, and when the two Heads left, bent over Sirius and kissed his forehead softly. “Narcissa and I are supposed to take care of you while you’re here, and we most definitely will. We cannot – and I need you to pay attention to what I’m about to say – be everywhere at once. We refuse to tell you what to do and how to do it, and we certainly won’t tell you what or how to think. That isn’t what we’re here for, whatever Aunt Wally may believe. You will do your own thing, and unless you’re about to break your neck or otherwise hurt yourself, neither Cissy nor I will tell you what to do. That is up to you.”   
  
Sirius nodded solemnly.  
  
“Be responsible.”  
  
With that, Sirius was swept into the presence of the Head Boy, who led him to the docks where one last boat and two nervous girls waited for him.  
  
-  
  
Sirius woke up the following morning earlier than any of his fellow roommates. James Potter, the energetic and mischievous boy he had officially met at last night’s feast, had passed out sometime after midnight from the hours-long sugar high he had subjected himself to. He was sprawled across his bed, glasses askew on his face. Sirius quietly laughed to himself at the fresh memories and quickly dressed, carefully tying the Gryffindor necktie around his neck. He stared at it for a few minutes, hypnotized by its presence versus the expected Slytherin one, and gave himself a proud smile. If Andromeda and Narcissa weren’t upset, _he_ certainly wouldn’t be.  
  
As he had expected, his two cousins were already present at breakfast, two of the mere handful of students who were early risers, exceptionally anxious, or both. Andromeda straightened his robes as Narcissa smoothed down his hair, and left him alone to the Gryffindor table. He was surprised to find that he wasn’t the first one to rise after all. Remus Lupin smiled gingerly when Sirius slid onto the bench across from him.   
  
“Hello,” the boy said.   
  
“Good morning,” Sirius returned, and they were friends.  
  
Sirius decided that he liked the Lupin boy, because he was courteous and civilized and clearly not a dunce. He didn’t ask nosy questions or talk with his mouth full of food, for which Sirius was quite grateful, and was well-versed in the art of polite conversation. They spoke amiably, or as amiably as unsupervised eleven-year-old boys could manage, until they were interrupted the appearance of a steaming red envelope.  
  
Remus saw it first; Sirius noticed it when his new friend’s face paled. The envelope landed onto his plate, jumping as it threatened to explode its contents. Sirius picked it up with two fingers and, summoning up the courage the Hat saw less than twelve hours before, ripped it open.  
  
“SIRIUS POLLUX BLACK THE THIRD, YOU HAVE DISGRACED THE NOBLE HOUSE OF BLACK!”  
  
In a move that sealed the boy to Sirius’ heart forever, Remus turned away from the booming envelope and focused his attention on a copy of the _Daily Prophet_ James had spread out in front of him. Neither of them amplified this indignity by gawking at him, for which Sirius was eternally grateful.   
  
“NO DOUBT YOUR DEAR COUSIN ANDROMEDA HAS FILLED YOUR HEAD WITH FILTHY IDEAS THAT HAVE LED TO YOUR CORRUPTION AND UNFORTUNATE SORTING, BUT THE FAULT LIES WITH YOU FOR ACCEPTING. HAVE I NOT TAUGHT YOU BETTER? HOW DARE YOU INSULT ME AND YOUR FAMILY IN SUCH A WAY? ARE WE SUDDENLY NOT GOOD ENOUGH FOR YOUR HIGHNESS? IS SLYTHERIN SO BENEATH YOU THAT YOU HAVE THE AUDACITY TO SHUN IT? HAVE WE – ”  
  
The envelope suddenly erupted into flames; ashes floated down onto Sirius’ slices of bacon. More than the Howler itself, the move had startled everyone in the now-silent, now-full Great Hall, and Sirius glanced up to notice Narcissa lowering her wand. She began to return to the Slytherin table, but Andromeda, who stood behind her with her mouth in a grim thin line, whispered into her sister’s ear. Narcissa nodded once and gracefully strode out of the hall.  
  
“Where is she-?”  
  
“Don’t worry about it,” Andromeda firmly interrupted. Sirius’ mouth formed a wide ‘O.’ She bent over her cousin’s ear and whispered, “Simply know that you will not have to worry about any more humiliating gestures such as those.” She straightened herself up and closed her eyes. “For someone who is always so determined to have everyone in the family keep the Black name spotless, your mother has a terrible time doing such a thing herself.”   
  
Andromeda left him then, joining her acquaintances at the Slytherin table. Nobody spoke for a few moments, but Andromeda’s refusal to acknowledge the situation any longer and her stern glares and sharp retort to a pair of gossiping Ravenclaw first years discouraged Hogwarts’ students from taking any outward interest in the event as well. The Great Hall filled with noise again, and Sirius returned to his ruined breakfast. His appetite was gone anyway. Remus quietly handed him an orange.  
  
“Thanks,” he said quietly, muttering the charm that peeled the fruit for him. He ate it slowly, bite by bite, and when it was gone so were most of the other students. His new class schedule had been set before him; Remus still sat across from him, and this time really was engrossed in the _Prophet_. Sirius glanced around curiously. Andromeda and Narcissa remained at the Slytherin table. Sirius gazed at the Slytherin banner above him, and then turned his attention back to his cousins. They didn’t appear to have noticed his staring.  
  
“Class begins soon,” Remus said suddenly, folding the paper into tidy squares. “We ought to leave.” He grabbed his leather knapsack and looked at Sirius expectantly.   
“Oh,” Sirius said. “All right. Let’s go, then.”  
  
Remus quickly had him in easy conversation about the latest in the study of the Wizarding genome. Sirius failed to notice the uneasy, hopeful expressions on his cousins’ faces, or the way Narcissa took Andromeda’s hand in her own, patting it with a sort of reluctant comfort.  
  
“He’ll be fine, Andie.” Her whisper didn’t reach Sirius’ ears. He disappeared with Remus out of the Great Hall, out of their sight and sphere of influence. Andromeda pressed her cheek to Narcissa’s, closed her eyes, and breathed in her sister’s perfume.  
  
“We _hope_.”


End file.
